Colour Is King. Susanna Harrison on illustration, instinct, and everyday joy

cgoucher
15 hours ago
3 min read

Susanna Harrison has always drawn. As a child, if she skipped school, she would go to the art gallery just to stand inside the energy of it. She studied graphic design because it felt like the proper way to build a creative career. But art directors kept handing her the illustrative briefs.

After a detour into textile design and the arrival of her children, she made a decision. No more circling it. She would be a full-time illustrator.

Her work today is bright, instinctive, and full of characters pulled from everyday city life. Colour leads. Joy follows.

How did illustration first become part of your world, and when did you feel yourself wanting to build a creative life around it.
I’ve always drawn, ever since I was little, even though no one around me was into it. Art was my favourite subject at school, and if I ever skipped school, I would always go to the art gallery and walk around just to be a part of the energy. I ended up studying Graphic Design at university because back then, it felt like the "proper" way to be creative and actually earn a living.

But when I started working, my art directors would always give me the illustrative briefs instead of the layout or typography work. I took a detour into textile design for a few years, but after I had my children, I realized I needed to stop dancing around it. I decided I wanted to be a full-time illustrator. I reached out and got an agent, and from that point on, I just started working and drawing.
Your work has such a bright, joyful energy. When you begin something new, what tends to come first for you. A colour, a shape, a mood, or something else you notice in the moment.
A sketch always comes first, but I usually have an instinct about the colour palette straight away. Colour is king for me. I work from the background colour up. I honestly can’t create those cool, moody, muted illustrations — when I work, bright colour just starts filling the page.
You have moved through design, textiles, pattern, and illustration. As your practice keeps growing, what feels like it has been evolving for you lately?
Lately, I just want to draw the scenes I see around me — usually a place I have enjoyed and the quirky characters I saw in them. I love fashion, outfits and clothes are a big drawcard for my eye. I like drawing luxury fashion items I can’t afford to buy myself.
There is a strong sense of everyday life in your work. What kinds of moments, places, or people tend to spark something for you?
It can be anything, ideas come from walking around the city — shops, restaurants, or art galleries. People are the real catalyst. I take a “double take” most days and think, “That would be so much fun to draw.” It’s those small, human moments in public spaces that make me want to pick up my iPad.
Has a project or illustration ever surprised you, either in how it turned out or in the way someone connected with it.
The characters in my drawings are always a pleasant surprise. They are so fun to make up, each character is new, fresh and are actually the heartbeat of my drawing's stories.
When you want to reconnect with the joy of making, what helps. A walk, a colour, a sketch, or something simple that brings you back to yourself.
Creating is like second nature to me; I can almost always step right into it. But when I’m looking for a massive surge of inspiration, nothing beats travelling. Immersing myself in different cultures and seeing more of the world provides a total reset. It’s that exposure to the new that brings on a rush of creativity — I want to draw it all.

Creative identity often announces itself long before we formally claim it.

Susanna’s story is not about discovering illustration. It is about recognizing it. Art directors saw it. She felt it. Eventually, she stopped treating it as adjacent and made it central.

Sometimes the work keeps choosing you until you choose it back.

Want to see more of Susanna's work, check out her Instagram: @susannapharrison

This series grows through word of mouth and the creative people who nudge me toward the next conversation. If someone comes to mind whose creativity inspires you, send them my way.

Until next week, Christine.